I've not been on this site for a long while, probably because the combination of a nagging back injury and young children have kept me stalled at 36 hps for the 6th year in a row. So Denali and Mt. Hood still await, as do a dozen non-mountainous spots in the middle of the country. One day I'll do those less than interesting high points. I've been thinking that others must have done something to spice them up, to add to the challenge. So what have you done to make the easy high points more interesting?

I'll list three things I've done to make easy highpoints more fun.

Delaware -- the lowest point to highest point hike. Delaware's highpoint is only about 6 miles from the Delaware river, which, at sea level, is the lowest point in Delaware. Traveling on foot from lowest to highest point seemed like a good idea. I live in the area, so it was easier to do than for most. The Delaware river waterfront is state property, but the area closest to the highpoint is cut off by a huge oil refinery. You need to go a little further south to get access to the water, to the Claymont train station. From there you can walk on roads (mostly Naaman's Road) to the hp. I chained a bike up near the highpoint and road back to my car so that I only had to walk one way. I've always wanted to do it again, and actually run the thing as hard as I could, but now that I'm not in good enough shape to put up an impressive time, I haven't bothered. Some day.

West Virginia -- I did this 14 years ago (it was my 3rd hp) so I don't remember the details, but there is a really cool 20 mile or so roundtrip hike up spruce knob. If you get the maps for the area, you'll find it. We figured it out after stopping by the ranger station at Seneca Rocks. One of my favorite hp hikes, and most people drive this one.

Alabama -- I'd strongly recommend hiking up from Cheaha lake. A trail passes through some very pretty white cliffs to nearby the highpoint, then you can follow the power line to the actual highpoint.

My system is to climb (as in, no mechanical means are allowed) the majority (50.000001%) of the prominence of each highpoint. Prominence is essentially the elevation difference between the summit and the key saddle. The key saddle is the saddle between the summit and the next highest summit, so sometimes the saddle is many many miles away. This little rule has required me to hike several miles to Hoosier Hill, but other than that one so far the hikes and walks have been worthwhile and reasonable.

That's my only "must-do" rule, but i also make every best effort to hike a different trail from the "standard" trail as often as possible, so far on 21 out of 33 HP's. I also try to camp near as many as possible, so far on 20 out of 33. There are a few other minor quirks, like trying to throw in a few moonlight hikes, a few solos and a few big groups, etc. I have my heart set on hiking Whitney via the 220 mile John Muir Trail, and also on walking between Brasstown Bald and Clingman's Dome. I'm shooting for summitting at least one HP in each calendar month. I still need Jan, Feb, and March! I try to do as many loop hikes as i can...but so far only 11 of those. And last but not least, i try to make the "milestone" HP totals, like 10th, 20th, etc be states that have particular significance to me. So i did my state of residence (MO) at the time first, the first place i started hiking (CO) was 10th, where i went to college (IN) was 20th, my previous residence (OR) was 25th, my NEW residence (HI) was 26th, and my grad school residence (MA) was 30th.

So that was more answer than you probably ever expected from one person, and now you all know how certifiably nuts i am. Btw, i'm starting to get restless after 7 months with NO HIGHPOINTS. How did you last 6 years? Are you normal or something???

(i did the same hike up Cheaha, and somehow i remember it as being kinda grungy. i guess i'm a wilderness snob.)

I've lasted 6 years because there's been other trips more interesting than doing an OH-IN-IL-IA-KS-MO loop. The only highpoints I have left that resemble mountains are Hood, Denali and Harney. We had a failed attempt on Mt. Hood a few years ago, so that's kept me stuck at 36.

Interestingly enough, once you fall off the hp wagon it gets hard to get back on. I averaged 4.5 hps per year for 8 years, and now none in the last six years. I've redone DE, TN and NH during that time period, but nothing new.

But the next time I get a week or so to head into the mountains, I may head for the Alps instead of doing a highpoint. It's not that I won't finish the highpoints, but after 14 years, the list fever isn't as strong as the desire to have a cool vacation.

Your memory of the Cheaha hike may be better than mine - it was quite a while ago. I probably liked the hike because I had such low expectations for the highpoint going in, and it was winter, so that may have reduced the grunge factor you experienced.

I've been off the state HP wagon since 2003, and have only 3 new ones since 2001. In my case I just need the ones that are very far away and require lots of time and money to get there.

However, I have learned to appreciate that most of the fun of the chase is the chase itself. I've done some revisits with my wife in the meantime. I am in no hurry, really. When I submit my story to A2Z after I've done my lower-48, I'll happily state "This has taken me 20+ years ... "

I applaud those who do them all in 50 days or less, but personally, would not want any part of that. That kid who recently did them all in record time, in my opinion (and my opinion only, let me stress) completely missed the point of the hobby. Driving all night - summitting at night - etc - not for me. I like the views and the lingering around afterwards to enjoy the glow. The best part of summitting Hood for me in 1997? Drinking beer with my climbing mate at Timberline Lodge afterwards that afternoon, staring up at the mighty mountain and admiring it, knowing that 9 hours earlier we stood on the summit. An unreal, exhilirating feeling. I'd rather do that than sleep in a fetal position in a vehicle while someone drives me to Idaho for another ascent that evening.

I agree w/you--see my other message. I always try to arrange to walk the last mile (or more) to drive-up HPs, even past notices like "No Hikers or Bikers. Bison On Property". (there were none)

In another example, a Cairns friend (Queensland, gateway to Mt. Bartle Frere and the Great Barrier Reef) recently made an RTW trip. It was an odd one, with long-haul flights, then sojourns in odd places--including Cuba, no problem for Aussies--plus a driving tour in former Yugoslavia. Always the vicarious-travel enthusiast, I looked up his flights on a great-circle mapper, http://gc.kls2.com/, plotted them and sent him the pictures. Some went over or past exciting places like Mts. Whitney & Shasta, which I've climbed; the Canadian Rockies which I've skied in; the Himalayas (did the Everest/Kala Pattar trip, to 5600 m.); and the Lesser Sunda Islands ie Lombok (Gunung Rindjani, 3726 m., not climbed), Bali (Agung, 3142 m., climbed), etc. I told him whatever you do, get window seats (and hope you're not over the wing)!

Then it turned out they were all overnight redeye flights! Oh well it wasn't my trip; and perhaps these were the only ones available. When I flew LGW-NBO return (Gatwick to Nairobi and back) for a Kili-Shira-Route trip (aborted at Arrow Glacier due to lousy weather), the flights ran at night both ways, on BA. I wonder why they did that. Turns out he prefers aisle seats anyway where you crane your neck trying to see out. Oh well it wasn't my trip.

I'm into mountain biking as well as hiking so I've done a handful of HPs that way. The biggest motivator, however, has been a stroke of luck that now has my father interested in highpointing. He's more into travelling than mountains so he's been a perfect partner the last couple of years and has helped make those trips to Hawkeye Point and Woodall Mountain very interesting. This May, however, our Great Plains trip will bring an end to the easy ones. This was quasi-intentional ... leaving the western zone for last. This way, I figure it should be real easy to maintain my enthusiasm hopefully to the conclusion of the list of 50.

My computer ate this message--twice. GRRRR.... Here's a THIRD
try.

While I don't go as far as Mark's climbing half the "prominence",
I do make a point of walking a reasonable distance even to easy
high points. I parked at the grid (cattle guard) then walked to
Kansas' "Mt." Sunflower, then on down the hill to a fence I think
is the Colorado border, and back up. Despite signs warning of "No
Hikers, Bison on Property" (saw none), I walked ~a mile from the
tri-state point to Nebraska's Panorama Point, though I had to get
under a fence as there was no gate. A red ant stung me in a
sensitive place, sitting on the monument eating lunch; the signs
should warn of ants too! In Iowa, I had to settle for walking
from the road across the Sterler's farm to the HP; but I also
climbed Ochedeyan Mound nearby.

For an upcoming "Ozark Safari" (centered on an exhibit on the
Titanic at the St. Louis Science Center), some queries turned up
reasonably challenging hikes to Taum Sauk and Magazine Mts.,
which many apparently drive up. For Taum Sauk, if you start from
the Claybaugh Creek T.H. on Rt. 21 just S. of Hwy. CC, it's an
alleged 6 miles w/a 1250' el. gain to the top. This avoids the
recent accident with that pumped-storage facility.

For Magazine, the Greenfield Trail links the Visitor's Center to
the Mossback Ridge Tr. to Signal Hill, for a total of 7 mi. RT I
think. For Driskill, about the best one can do is to walk a mile
up the road from the church, I'm told.

I hope these trails will provide more than a modicum of exercise
without Colorado's anoxia, and give me a nice sample of the
Ozarks in spring, next month. Roger Williams (16, + many abroad),
Boulder, Colo.


April might be on the front end of the Ozark's tick season. Wear long pants and tuck them into your socks! Those buggers are brutal, at least around Taum Sauk.

Didn't know about the ticks. They come out here (Colorado) shortly after the snow melts; but were bad on bottom land (near water) in Pine Ridge in Nebraska's panhandle (Chadron)in May or June. Perhaps I can hitch a ride with them. Does insect repellent work? I much prefer shorts--short, not those confounded Bermuda or cargo things.

I used DEET, my friend used DEET, and we both still had ticks attach themselves to our pant legs. I wouldn't count on anything keeping them off completely. The good news is the type of ticks they have there are big enough to see clearly. They are maybe 5x bigger than the little pin-prick deer ticks.

Of course if you just take the paved path to the highpoint, you can go in your skivvies and still stay tick-free. But who would want to do that?

Note to Mark Votapek who was so concerned about them: ticks
were very few in the Ozarks, mosquitoes, chiggers or other pests
even fewer (though I wonder what all those itchy swellings on my
legs are from). I didn't bother with long pants or shirt, I
hiked in short shorts (not those confounded cargo or Bermuda
things) and sleeveless vest over singlet, except on Black Mesa
where the wind chill called for Carhartts and l-s shirt under a
fleece (shed both on the way back). Poison ivy grew profusely
some places in the Ozarks; I managed to avoid it.

On my third (and probably last) visit to Mt. Sunflower, KS, I
battled a gale force wind from the grid (guard) to arrive out of
breath at the lofty summit on foot, then walked on to an old
water tank and back. The HP was amusing as usual; but I skidded
on gravel CR 3, nearly having an accident. Then I had a flat tire
(a nail, it turned out). The cheap screw jack was useless on
gravel; it fell over 3 times. I was rescued by a Good Samaritan
from a local ranch in an F-250 who summoned friends on his
cellular phone--I had none. They had garage-type equipment and
changed the tire in 5 minutes, taking only my heartfelt thanks.

The Claybaugh Creek Trail up Taum Sauk Mt., MO (new), was
marked only for that and the closed Johnson Shut-Ins. I took it
anyway. It climbed a bit, then descended to the creek then after
a gradual climb it came to a trail to Russell Mt. I'd never heard
of this; lacking a map--there was none at the TH a mile past Cty.
Rd. CC--and having no idea if it was connected with Taum Sauk
(repeat: this was NOT mentioned at the TH), I went on. There was
a considerable descent, 300' or more, back to the creek then a
long steep climb (puff!) up the other side then it leveled off. I
was unclear where I was with respect to TS so carried on a way.
It carried on fairly level with no signs so I gave up and turned
back. Fortunately I refilled my 2 liter bottles at the creek
(cold fresh water; no ill effects); it was a warm day and I went
through 4 liters. You were supposed to go down a dip then up to
Taum Sauk but was it the 1st or 2d one?

This time I took the Russell Mt. side trail which ended at a
road near some tall radio towers. I followed this W. down a dip
and back up past lots of ominous "Posted" notices--much of this
mountain seems to be private property--and on to what turned out
to be Taum Sauk Mt. I went on past a fire tower, climbed most of
it--of course the trap door to the top was locked--and carried on
to a fork to 2 more radio towers where the roads ended.

I walked back to a fork to a state park, where the HP is
evidently located, but it went on and on, time was getting late
and my energy low so I turned back, hiked down the dip, up to
Russell Mt. and back to the jeep, arriving before dusk after some
10 hours on my feet, to find my spare tire was gone. Next day I
drove to near the HP, walked to it thinking of Jack Longacre
(there's a (617) LOngacre 6 (566) exchange in Boston), then on
and down to the distinctive flat rock where I'd had a 1st lunch
(2d was on the tower below that confounded locked trapdoor) the
day before and turned back, then turned back the other way thus
closing the loop and completing the climb from the Claybaugh Ck.
TH to the HP I'd planned on. Some signs at the TH or the Russell
Mt. jct. would have been a BIG help.

The climb of Mt. Magazine or Signal Hill (AR, new) from the
Benefield picnic area went fine. The new lodge appeared nearly
finished; I didn't visit it. I walked on to Cameron Bluff for a
good view of the vast expanse of forested hills, eating lunch on
a nice flat rock a short ways down the long Cove Lake Trail. Some
kind of nasty fly bit or stung me at the picnic area. The weather
for both HPs was excellent.

By Driskill Mt. (LA, new) there had been drought-breaking
torrential rains making for a muddy hike up, on another nice
sunny day. Zumwalt's directions misled me into a hideous logged
area; if you just stay on the main road, it takes you right up
past the sister summit and over 2 short steep climbs. There was a
cairn, a picture of Jack and some log books in the middle of
another nice hardwood forest (logged or bulldozed to pieces in
other places) with no view. Faint paths led to a sort of bench
mark and to a limited view of blue hills. That little brick
"Independent Presbyterian Church" where you park--I wouldn't
recommendt that road after rain except maybe on a quad bike
(ATV)--was locked; I couldn't get into it.

I stayed at the Black Mesa Ranch-cum-B&B by Black Mesa (OK, 2d
climb) again. The 9-mile climb to the top was pleasant enough,
the steep middle part up the bluff taxing; I walked on to the NM
state line (1/4 mile, 400 m.) again then over to a good view on
the S. side. One passes an odd little crater or sink. Kenton
Mercantile was open though it had a "For Sale By Owner" sign, a
dusty emporium full of dusty old bric-a-brac, arrowheads, you
name it with a bearded proprietor who had little to say. I
purchased a cup of coffee and a fancy "High Pointer" diploma
certifying I'd climbd Black Mesa (which I filled out myself).

I drove on in search of 2 CO county HPs, Carrizo Mt. (Baca
Cty.) and 2 Buttes (Prowers Cty.). Whether due to a wrong turn or
the confusion of ranch and county roads, Carrizo eluded me. 2
Buttes started poking over the horizon E. of Prichett on US-160.
Per John Mitchler's guide, the climb went fine, an Alpine
Traverse of S. Butte (up a steep but not difficult gully through
a gap in a cliff on the SW face, then N. down to the saddle and
up the lower N. Butte). From the top I beheld "the vision
splendid/Of the sunlit plains extended" (A.B. "Banjo" Patterson,
`Clancy of the Overflow'), broken only by ranks of wind turbines
to the NW turning out megawatts--it blew a gale--and 3 points on
the SW horizon that had to be the tops of Prichett's 3 grain
elevators. Oddly I couldn't see Springfield, Colo. I found it
easier to slide under the b-w fence near the permanently closed
gate (the wire was high) than to climb that.

Total: 6 HPs, 5 state and 1 county, for a total of 19 state
HPs (plus many abroad), 4 of them new. All HPs were very attractively designed and presented except 2 Buttes which featured lots of broken glass, and a hole I suspect is where some idiot pried out one of those nice brass USGS bench marks. Roger Williams, Boulder, Colo.


Glad you had a different tick experience than i did. Mine was from Johnson Shut-Ins, but more likely the particular weather that season was the reason for the swarms. Congratulations on the trip!

...since November of 2001, when I climbed Charles Mound, shortly before its descent into extremely restricted access. Because neither I nor my father currently have the resources to make it out West, that leaves the Great Lakes and lower Southeast regions to complete. However, it just doesn't feel the same as anticipating the exhilarating climb up Katahdin, or the southeastern 4-highpoints-in-a-day, or the thrill of FINALLY gaining access to the summit of Jerimoth. I've since occupied my time with climbing the occasional county HP, and am working on the NH 4000'ers (1/6 done), but the state highpoints will always hold a special place in my heart. I now know that some of the easier Western highpoints are undoubtably within my grasp, but will I have the chance to reach them before I've finished college, (hopefully) gone on to medical school, and spent several years in residency? I can only hope.

I may try to finish off Connecticut's or Rhode Island's county highpoints with my dad in a week and a half, but until then I have finals, so ta-ta for now.

Some of the things I have done to make the highpoints more interesting:

Alabama - Hiked from Cheaha Lake. I liked this short but steep hike.
Arkansas - I hiked RT from the visitor center, which I figured as 6 miles. There are some 5th class rock climbs on a cliff below Magazine Mtn, which could make a very interesting HP, but I didn't try to do this.
Georgia - I hiked from Jacks Gap, 5.5 miles RT. There are other (a little longer) trails to Brasstown as well.
Kentucky - I walked up the road from the state border.
Massachusetts - I hiked around 6 mi RT on the AT, starting north of the HP, to the west of Mt Williams.
Missouri - I hiked 26 miles RT from Johnson's Shut-Ins SP, along the Ozark trail. It was surprisingly crowded, although most people were doing the hike one-way with a car shuttle, this is still a respectable 13 miles on rocky trails. I don't know what the situation is post-accident.
New Hampshire - Hike from Pinkham Notch.
New Jersey - Hiked 5 mi or so RT on the AT, starting from the NE corner of the park.
North Carolina - Hike from Black Mountain campground. (11.2 mi RT, 3000+ ft elevation gain).
Pennsylvania - Hiked up Wolf Rock trail. I wanted to do a longer hike, but time and thunderstorms made me pick a shorter one, still better than drive-up.
South Carolina - 19 mile RT hike from Table Rock state park.
West Virginia - 20 mile or so RT backpack, starting on the Spring Ridge Trail on CR 29.
Wisconsin - 9 mile RT on the Timm's Hill trail, starting at the trailhead near Hultman road and Highway C. You could make this longer as well.

I should have walked from the state border on FL and RI, but time and weather considerations made me wimp out.